Thursday, October 28, 2010

So, we were trying to figure out what Scooter should wear to the big day care Halloween party tomorrow. Yes, they have a Halloween party, complete with costumes, bobbing for apples, as well as 'doggie safe' cake and frosty paws (think Hoodsies for dogs). It's a big day for the pups!

Every year the dogs have their pictures taken in costume, the pictures are put up on the daycare's website, and the people who send their dogs to daycare get to vote on who's dog wins the costume contest. There are two prizes awarded (a free day of daycare). One for the best 'little' dog costume and one for the best 'big' dog costume.

Jim and I were trying to decide whether or not to have Scooter go as a pumpkin or a skeleton. He's worn both before, so it's not a new costume either way. (the skeleton was 2 years ago, and the pumpkin was last year).

I posted these pictures on facebook, and the decision was unanimous.....the pumpkin won. :-)

I'm guessing that a lot of that had to do with the fact that he looks much happier in the pumpkin costume, but I have to admit - the skeleton picture makes me laugh.

So, the pumpkin it is....I'm sure you'll all agree.

Have a great day!!!

Scooter, the skeleton

Scooter, the pumpkin

Just for fun. (ours, not his)

After posting the above picture on facebook, my friend (who's known for her Photoshop trickery) posted the following picture of Scooter and her cat, along with the comment below.

I almost collapsed.

Two hopeful thespians await their turn to audition for Petco Presents: Grey Gardens, the Musical

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Finally things are kind of getting back to normal around here. And by normal, I mean completely crazy.

Work has been a real challenge lately, and I don't see that getting better any time soon. We've got two people joining our team (temporarily) to help out with our current project, as well as a woman who's here from India for 4 weeks that's a 'subject matter expert'. She's going to be helping to get the new people up and running as well as helping myself and whoever else may be a little bit experienced, but still a tad 'shaky' when it comes to certain aspects. She's very nice and certainly seems to know her stuff.

That being said, I'm kind of going crazy because at this point, I'm the one who's overseeing the entire training process. For those of you who aren't aware, there's nothing I despise more than managing/supervising people. In fact, that's the reason I left my previous job 9 years ago. I was offered a promotion to supervisor way back when, and since it was the 'natural' progression in my career I tried my hand at supervising and didn't like it one bit. Don't get me wrong, I no problem helping people, answering their questions, or making myself available for them - but what I can't stand is being the one who has to make sure that everyone is busy at all times...having people come to me with, "OK - what do I do now?"....having to deal with all the set-up crap associated with new people, etc...etc...etc... I find it all very stressful and not fun.However, I have no other choice at the moment. They need someone to do it, and they're looking for me to 'step-up' and be the one. Gross.

Well, that's my bitchy, complaining rant for the day. I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon - or at the very least, just deal with it. You know, when everyone comes to see me in a couple of hours with their endless list of problems, questions & concerns. ;-)

In other news, Jim was home sick with a horrible cold for the past couple of days and I think he's finally on the mend and heading back to work today. Feel better, dear!!!!

Oh, and the Spo-Shirt is on it's way to the next blogger....keep your eyes peeled for it!!!

Monday, October 25, 2010

OK - so I just got this blasted thing to work again and as usual, I'm at work - so I MUST keep this brief. :-)

My trip to Chicago was AMAZING. Here's the 'short list' of stuff I did:

Show tune Monday night at Side Track (where I met the fabulous blogger Stephen R. of 'Are You There Blog?, It's Me, Stephen' and enjoyed some crazy show tunes)The Art Institute of Chicago, The Field Museum, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, several bars in Boystown (Bobby Love's, Bucks, Scarlet, to name a few), shopping on State Street, fancy-pants gala event at The University Club of Chicago, followed by a visit to Redhead Piano Bar, The Willis Tower (aka The Sears Tower), visited some college friends in Wicker Park and ate at a great place called Boundary, visited my relatives in LaSalle/Peru, and walked around a LOT.

When I have more time, I'll post some pictures....all in all, it was a blast and definitely some place I want to go back and visit.

The second part of this posting is dedicated to Dr. Spo of Spo Reflections. He's not only a super entertaining blogger (and brilliant Dr.) but he makes shirts!!! And they're fantastic.

He came up with a really fun idea, and I'm proud to be a part of his 'experiment'.

Basically, he chose one of his shirts and sent it out to one of the fans of his blog. From there, that person would take a picture of him/her self with the shirt (wearing it, ideally) and then sends it along to another blogger. From there, it would travel on and on, from blogger to blogger until God only knows when. Along with the shirt, there's a little notebook so that people can record the shirts journey, AND (as if that wasn't exciting enough) for each person that received the shirt, Dr. Spo is making a donation to one of 4 charities (Test Positive Awareness, Doctors without Borders, The Humane Society, or Research for Prostate Cancer) that he's listed in the notebook.

Well, I'm happy to say the shirt has reached the east coast!!!!

Here's my contribution to the cause:

I figured this was fitting, since Dr. Spo's favorite holiday is Halloween :-)

A little closer.....

And since my charity of choice is The Humane Society, this seemed fitting as well.

The shirt is now making it's way to the next blogger.....stay tuned for more updates!!!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Ok people...I'm alive.
I had a GREAT time in Chicago and came back to utter chaos at work. Not only that, but for some inexplicable reason I can't write an entry on my work PC, so I'm currently writing this using my iPhone. Crazy.

Once I figure out the PC issue, or have a moment to write a 'real' entry at home, I will do so.

Until then, please don't forget about me!!! I still have a lot to tell you about my trip, not to mention my incredibly exciting day to day life.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

This is a rare, middle-of-the-afternoon post, but since I had a free moment, I thought I'd write.
Work has been CRAZY, but I'm very excited because I'm on vacation next week, and going to CHICAGO!!!
Yahoo!

I hadn't said anything before, because I wasn't 100% sure that I was going, but I received the 'ok' this morning and confirmed that I will be going. Jim is working a conference there all next week and I'm tagging along for the ride. I have a few things planned, but nothing concrete.

That's where you all come in!!! I've been there once (with my mom and grandmother, back in 1985) but I've never visited as an adult, so I'm open to all suggestions.

Let me know what I shouldn't miss. :-)

Also - I'm passing on a website for all of you to check out. Moby's boyfriend (of 'The Moby Files' fame) is launching a brand new t-shirt website, and there is a HUGE sale happening right now.
Be sure and check it out.....

***WARNING*** - these are quite adult in content and may not be appreciated by everyone...soooo....view at your own risk.
But I kind of liked them. ;-)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

This was such a busy weekend, it was crazy - but fun.....I'll try and keep it brief. :-)

Friday night after work I met up with a bunch of my former co-workers to celebrate the end of our old accounting system. (Geek - much?) Anyway...the system we used to work on/test was FINALLY going away (meaning that all the clients had successfully converted to the new system - at last) and we decided to celebrate. It was GREAT to see them all again, and made me miss the 'good old days' way back when.
I met them all in Boston for a little while, met up with Jim for dinner at 'The Grille', and then ended the evening back at his sister's house with drinks and games.
Fun.

Saturday was pretty low-key all day long. We met up with some friends later that night over at one of their houses to view a bootleg of a certain Broadway show that was up for Best Musical last year (2009). It didn't win, but I can certainly understand why it was nominated. The female lead won the Tony for leading actress in a musical, so if you're up on your Tony history (I know at least one reader who now knows what show it was) you can figure out which show we watched. It was a fairly decent DVD of the show, and I was THRILLED that we had the chance to see it...especially since I never get to NYC as often as I like. Thank you XXXXX for inviting us!!! I'll leave your name out of this - you know....so you don't get arrested or anything. :-)

The 'viewing' group!! (thanks for the picture, B!!!)

On Sunday, Jim and I met up with some of my college friends and their families and we went to the Deerfield Fair in Deerfield, NH. Needless to say, it was more of a giant carnival than a 'traditional' country fair. We had a great time seeing them, but I don't think we'll make that particular fair a regular destination. It was made up of about 75% food vendors, and the clientele was......questionable, at best. Yikes.
It made for some amazing people watching though....that was fun.

Yes...Fried Ice Cream....candy bars....Oreos....Twinkies.....

I cant imagine why so many Americans are overweight?!?!?

This made me laugh....no kissing!!!

Yesterday, I spent the day at home putting all the storm windows in, doing several loads of laundry, and 'general' house keeping stuff, as it was rainy and I had the day off. I also watched the 'Live at Lincoln Center' production of 'South Pacific' which I've had saved on my DVR for weeks at this point...it was SO good. I'm glad I held on to it and didn't delete it. I'm going to keep it around for a while so hopefully Jim will watch it too...I think he'd really like it.

Friday, October 1, 2010

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I went to see a production of 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' last night and I LOVED it. This was my third time seeing the show, and I was thrilled that it was great. It was especially nice to see a cast of people on a Boston stage that I'd never seen perform before. Of the 9 cast members, I'd only seen one of them in a show before. THAT is pretty much unheard of - especially in the Boston theatre 'scene'...but it was a very welcome change.
I'm not a fan of writing reviews, so I won't. But I will say that this production was by far the funniest of all the productions I've seen, and above that, the singing, staging, and acting were all top-notch. I wish I'd seen it earlier, so that I'd have a chance for a return visit, but I didn't, so I don't. :-)

It's Friday, I have a few meetings and a ton of work to suffer through, and then it's time for the weekend!
This is one of my long weekend weeks, so I'm extra excited for it to be here!!!
YAHOO!!!!